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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23940769">Middle of Somewhere</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorryinadvance/pseuds/sorryinadvance'>sorryinadvance</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Outer Banks (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fist Fights, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friend Break Up, Healing, Hugs, I'm Sorry, JJ (Outer Banks) Deserves Better, John B and Sarah are gone, Kiara needs a hug, OBX, Outer Banks, Party, Post-Break Up, Topper tries to be a decent person, fall apart - Freeform, group hug, kooks are assholes, mild kiara/pope, pogues get into a fight, post disappearance, the pogues aren't okay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:00:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23940769</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorryinadvance/pseuds/sorryinadvance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Flashforward 1 year after John B and Sarah disappear</p><p>The rest of the Pogues fall apart for awhile. This is how they fall back together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>117</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Middle of Somewhere</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey guys! So I watched all of outer banks yesterday, and I felt inspired! I haven't really written anything (except for college papers) in awhile, so please bear with me. I apologize for any typos. I tried to portray the characters' personalities as well as I could, so don't hate me. </p><p>I hope ya'll like it! Feel free to leave a kudos or comment! NO NEGATIVITY! Enjoy!!</p><p>Title from "Middle of Somewhere" by The Neighbourhood</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a year since John B. and Sarah Cameron had disappeared at sea. Some fishing boats had found the Phantom’s wreckage still floating in the key a few days after the hurricane came and went. The Coast Guard spent days searching for the two teenagers’ bodies, but they came up empty handed to no one’s surprise. The newly inducted Sheriff Shoupe declared John B. and Sarah as ‘lost at sea.’ Just like John B.’s father. </p><p> The remaining Pogues were down at the Boneyard getting drunk at a typical Saturday night kegger when the tides turned. </p><p>Kiara sat leaning back on her hands, a bottle of cheap tequila she had swiped from her father’s liquor cabinet sat precariously in the sand beside her, and her toes stretched just far enough for her to feel the cool water splash against them as the tide came in. Her long brown curls fell loosely down her shoulders and fell in bunches on the sand. The warm July breeze carried small sand particles to scratch at her face, but she didn’t mind. </p><p>Behind her, she could hear the terrible bass of a Top 40s song echoing from the fancy portable speakers some Kook had dragged out to rest beside the keg by the tree line. Among the voices, she could hear Pogues shouting slurred taunts at the Kooks, who returned sneers and posh comebacks.  Among the voices, Kie could faintly make out Pope’s voice as he tried and failed to hit on a Kook with long, sleek black hair and tanned legs that seemed to go on forever. </p><p>Kiara snorted and rolled her eyes. She settled her weight to one side and grabbed for the tequila bottle to take a generous swig. </p><p>Pope and Kiara tried to make things work after their kiss on the dock the day John B and Sarah disappeared. Kiara will openly admit to using Pope as a security blanket the weeks that followed the night of the hurricane and her best friend’s disappearance. She wasn’t in the right state of mind, and the grief felt like a black hole only seconds away from swallowing her up for good. She needed something, or, in this case, someone to keep her afloat. </p><p>Pope was more than willing. </p><p>They lasted for three months, but Pope could tell his feelings weren’t returned. He could feel the emptiness behind her kisses and see how her once soft, sweet smiles didn’t seem to reach her eyes anymore. He confronted her one day in her parents’ restaurant after a long smoking session with a few guys who worked for his Pops. He walked into the restaurant, cornered Kiara behind the counter she had been wiping down and demanded to know if she returned his feelings. </p><p>The silence that followed threated to suffocate him. </p><p>He looked down at her faded yellow Vans for a second before turning and walking right back out of the restaurant. </p><p>Kiara felt her stomach drop as she called out to his retreating back. He didn’t turn around. </p><p>She didn’t see him again after that. The semester was well under way and her classes at the Kook Academy were drowning her in work. But, for once, she didn’t seem to mind. She needed a distraction to keep her mind off the pain she caused her dear friend. </p><p>Months passed and Kiara didn’t speak a word to Pope. She would see him in passing at parties and keggers, but the pained look in his eyes when he caught sight of her was enough to keep her away. It was also enough to motivate Pope to throw back drink after drink and smoke himself into a stupor.</p><p>Kiara took another drink of the stolen tequila, relishing in the burn as it washed down the bile in her throat. Thinking of what happened with Pope always made her sick to her stomach, but that was her own bad karma to deal with. </p><p>The endless Top 40s playlist paused as the songs changed, but it was enough time for her to hear JJ’s obnoxious laughter. </p><p>She hadn’t spoken to JJ in almost a year. </p><p>Kiara had tried to reach out to him several times and even went to his house to check on him a month after That Night. That was a mistake. He was drunk off his ass and fighting with his also very drunk father. When JJ caught sight of her standing at the front step of the porch, watching in horror as his father reared back to punch him again. </p><p>JJ knew what she was seeing. His face was covered in bruises and blood dripped down his cheek from the gash on his head. When he bared his teeth at her, all Kiara could see was blood. </p><p>“Get the hell out of here, you fucking Kook!” he growled out.  </p><p>Kiara flinched so hard she staggered back. </p><p>The old Kiara would have bared her teeth right back at him. A harsh retort slipping out of her mouth as she would rush to defend him against his abusive father. This Kiara, this broken shell of the fierce girl she used to be, was frozen in horror as she watched JJ’s father connect his fist with JJ’s already bruised cheek. </p><p>She cried out as JJ’s head snapped back and smacked against the solid wall behind him. A spark of anger flared deep in her belly. </p><p>“Get the hell away from him!” she shouted. </p><p>JJ and his father stared at her like she sprouted a second head in the moments she stood at the base of their front porch.</p><p>“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, you little bitch, but you ain’t got no right to be here. So mind ‘ya own damn business before I—” JJ’s father snarled. </p><p>Kiara didn’t get to know what would happen if she didn’t mind her own damn business because JJ had slammed into his father from behind. </p><p>“I thought I told you to get the fuck out of here, you dumb Kook. I don’t need you hanging around me anymore with your emotional ass bullshit. So leave already!” JJ roared as he sat on his father’s back in an effort to keep him down and away from Kiara. The way his father was thrashing under him and how his knees kept lifting up against the porch was a hint that he wouldn’t be able to keep him down much longer. </p><p>Kiara stared at the boy with blood trailing down his face and into the blonde hair tickling his cheeks. His right eye was swollen shut, and the blood in his mouth sprayed as he spat the harsh words at her.<br/>

“Go, Kie!” he shouted again. She saw, just for a moment, the hint of fear dancing deep in his blue eyes. With a chilling realization, she realized that maybe, just maybe, he was trying to protect her from his father. Then as quickly as it appeared, the fear was gone and replaced with a menacing glare. But it was enough for her. </p><p>“I’m sorry,” she whispered so quietly she didn’t think he heard her. She turned and ran back to her beat up SUV. The headlight on the driver’s side was still crushed in from when Pope took out a mailbox. </p><p>Leaving JJ that day was the second piece of bad karma she brought onto herself. </p><p>Kiara was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the shouting. </p><p>She turned her head back towards the party in time to see a blonde Kook grabbing JJ away from a girl in a bikini that he had been making out with. She was obviously a Kook, too. </p><p>“You piece of shit, Pogue! Get away from my girl!” the blonde Kook spat in JJ’s face. </p><p>JJ was unfazed. He smirked in the other boy’s face. </p><p>“Oh, I’m sorry, Darry. Was she yours? Damn, I didn’t exactly hear her complaining when I had my head between her legs last night,” JJ laughed. </p><p>The Kook girl he was talking about blushed so hard Kiara could see it from her place in the sand. </p><p>“You, little fucker!” the blonde Kook growled, bringing his arm back to smash his fist into the side of JJ’s head. </p><p>Kiara tightened her grip on her bottle. She could see Pope in the sea of onlookers. Worry was clear on his face as he chewed on his bottom lip and took a hesitant step forward. </p><p>The blonde Kook pounced on JJ as he lay crumpled in the sand. Another Kook, a boy with wavy brown hair, stepped out of the crowd. He watched as the blonde viciously kicked JJ’s fallen form before rushing forward.</p><p>“Daryl, leave the punk alone,” the new Kook boy sighed, grabbing the blonde Kook by the arm. </p><p>Realization hit Kiara like a freight train. It was Topper. Topper was actually trying to defend JJ. </p><p>“Are you really trying to defend this useless ass Pogue? Top, I thought you were better than that,” Daryl laughed. </p><p>Topper didn’t even have a chance to reply before one of Daryl’s friends broke from the group of Kooks with khaki shorts and Polo shirts, who had been watching their friend pound on JJ, got in his face. Kiara couldn’t hear what he told Topper, but the other boy shoved him away. Suddenly the other Polo wearing Kooks exploded into motion and began ripping into Topper or helping Daryl beat JJ into the ground. </p><p>Her feet moved without her realizing because suddenly she was running at Daryl’s back, half-empty tequila bottle raised over her head. </p><p>She brought the glass bottle down onto Daryl’s head. Glass and tequila showered the group of boys and she heard a shout of outrage from the Kook girl JJ had been kissing. </p><p>Daryl stumbled and grabbed at the back of his head. </p><p>“You stupid bitch!” he yelled. He turned on her and his friends realized their leader had found a new victim. </p><p>JJ picked his head up from the sand and stared at her incredulously. She risked a glance down at him under Daryl’s outstretched arm. She could see shock painted on his bruised and bleeding face.<br/>

Daryl took a step and got in her face, grabbing the now broken tequila bottle from her hand. </p><p>“What is it with you Pogues? Never know when to shut up and stay in your place,” he swung down what was left of the tequila bottle and Kiara closed her eyes, bracing herself. </p><p>The bottle smashed into her cheek, the broken shards scratching at her skin. She could feel blood trickling down and soaking into her t-shirt. Daryl and his idiot friends cruelly laughed.<br/>

She stumbled down to her knees and felt herself trembling. She could hear Topper and the rest of Daryl’s friends still fighting somewhere to the side of her. Tears trailed down her face. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. </p><p>Wiping at her eyes, she glared up at the boys standing over her. Behind them, JJ had staggered to his feet and rushed at Daryl the same way he had rushed at his father all those months before. </p><p>He leapt onto Daryl’s back and reached for the bottle in the other boy’s hand. The Kooks shouted, startled to see the Pogue they thought they pounded into the sand was clinging to Daryl’s shoulders.<br/>

From the corner of her eye, Kiara saw Pope run and smash a fist into one of the Kook’s heads. </p><p>Pope had never been much of a fighter, but this was different. Kiara watched JJ and Pope for a second as they fought the Kooks, all bared teeth and sharp glares. </p><p>Smirking, Kiara took advantage of the distraction and punched Daryl right in the balls. Hard.</p><p>He let out a high pitch cry and fell to his knees. JJ fell with him as he managed to twist the broken tequila bottle out of Daryl’s hand and shove him face first into the sand. </p><p>Kie turned to see Pope and the Kook holding each other in headlocks. The third Kook backed up from JJ, who was approaching him. The broken tequila bottle dangling dangerously in his fist. The Kook raised his hands in surrender before turning and scampering off into the crowd.</p><p>Pussy, Kiara thought to herself. </p><p>“Pussy ass bitch,” JJ mumbled. </p><p>She glanced over at him and watched as he ignored her to tackle the guy Pope had somehow managed to pry off him. </p><p>The two Pogues punched and kicked at the Kook boy until he fell to the sand with Daryl. Kiara snatched the broken bottle JJ had dropped when he tackled the Kook and ran to where Topper was staggering. </p><p>The two Kooks who ganged up on him were advancing on him when Kiara grabbed the closest one—a dark haired boy in a God awful pastel yellow polo and white khaki shorts—by the collar and pulled with all her strength to wrench the boy back. Later, Kiara would blame the alcohol still bubbling in her veins and the adrenaline rush for what she was about to do. </p><p>She held the jagged edge of the broken tequila bottle to the side of the boy’s throat. </p><p>“Call your friend off and leave Topper alone. Now,” Kiara hissed in the black-haired Kook’s ear. </p><p>She felt the boy try and wrestle away from her, but she tightened her hold on him. The collar of his disgustingly yellow shirt digging into his windpipe. The bottle’s sharp edge was digging into his skin harder now and he froze. </p><p>“James, back off,” the boy choked out. </p><p>His friend, James, turned to see his friend being held at bottle point by the small Pogue girl, and he smirked. </p><p>“Sweetheart,” he spoke with a long Southern drawl, “why don’t you hand that over and let go of my friend there?”</p><p>JJ and Pope appeared on either side of her. </p><p>“Well, sweetheart, why don’t ya’ll get the fuck out of here? Unless you wanna join your friends in the sand over there?” Pope told him. Kiara could feel the heat radiating off his body when his arm brushed hers. </p><p>Her grip on the bottle and the Kook’s shirt tightened when JJ let out a humorless laugh. </p><p>“Look, pretty boy. Do you really wanna do this? I mean, I sure as hell am not opposed to fighting,” JJ gestured to himself. There was a manic smile on his face and a fire blazing in his eyes. “But do you really wanna try going up against three pissed off Pogues?” </p><p>Kiara glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Since when does JJ try to talk someone out of a fight? A sideways glance from Pope confirmed she wasn’t the only one thinking that. </p><p>The smirk fell from James’ lips and the harshness of his reality hit him. Kiara wondered what he saw. </p><p>She knew the three of them looked rough. Pope’s shirt was torn at the collar and his face had a few bruises here and there. JJ had blood dripping off his bottom lip and onto the sand beneath his feet. There was an already purple bruise along his jaw, but Kiara wondered if that was from the Kooks or his father. Kie had a feeling she looked the worst out of the three. The cuts on her face were still slowly oozing blood and soaking her once white shirt. From the way the material clung to her skin, she knew there was no saving the shirt. </p><p>James began backing off. He sneered at them, spat something at Topper that she couldn’t quite catch, and spat on the sand before shoving his way through the crowd. </p><p>The people around them let out various laughs and groans of disappointment. The Pogues were laughing at their fellow comrades for humiliating the Kooks, and the Kooks were disappointed that the fight had gone in the southside trash’s favor. </p><p>Topper, who had been staggering in a daze with fists half-heartedly raised to defend himself, gasped in pain as he fell to his knees. None of the Pogues went to help him. When he raised his eyes to meet their gaze, JJ gave a single nod. Kiara didn't know if Topper understood what it meant, but she did. JJ was showing the smallest hint of respect. Even if the Kook boy had only stepped in to get beat up on himself, Top still tried to help JJ out. He had a lot to make up for, but it was something.</p><p>Kiara released the boy she had been threatening and dropped the broken bottle in the sand. He fell to his knees before stumbling to his feet and running after his friend without sparing the Pogues a second glance. </p><p>JJ huffed a laugh at his retreating form before turning to Pope and Kiara. </p><p>Pope shuffled his feet nervously. He watched JJ and Kiara with hesitant eyes. </p><p>Kiara glanced at both boys, her boys, before turning and walking away. </p><p>“What the hell was that?” she heard Pope say in bewilderment. </p><p>She could feel JJ’s eyes burning a hole in her shoulder blades, but she didn’t risk turning around. She couldn’t. If she did, she might let everything out. Every late night thought she had, every memory she longed to relive, every hope that one day things will get better and they would find their way back to each other. </p><p>She couldn’t risk that. </p><p>“I don’t know, but I liked it. A lot,” JJ finally said, long after Kiara had disappeared into the night.</p><p>                                                                                                                                         _________________________</p><p> </p><p>A week later, after the disastrous night at the Boneyard, Kiara was clearing away dishes as the last patron left her parent’s restaurant. The dinner rush had finally ended. All Kiara had to do now was help her father clean up before she could go pass out in her bed.</p><p>The cut on her cheek ached from forcing a smile for patrons all day. Explaining to her parents why she had stumbled into their living room at two in the morning with her blood-soaked t-shirt pressed to her cheek and reeking of tequila was not a fun experience. She remembered mumbling a half-hearted excuse about falling on a rock on her way home and cutting her face open. She knew her parents didn’t believe her by the way her mom eyed her with worry written all over her face and her father questioning her every two seconds. She was too tired to care.</p><p>Her mother had helped her clean and dress her wound before sending her to sleep with pain killers and the promise of a talk in the morning. It had not been a pleasant morning.  </p><p>Shaking her head at the memory, Kiara walked out of the kitchen and was about to start sweeping when the small bell jingled, announcing someone was entering the restaurant. </p><p>“I’m sorry, we’re closed,” Kiara said politely without turning around. There was no response, and Kiara had hoped whoever it was would turn around and walk back right out. </p><p>“Kie?” </p><p>She froze. </p><p>She heard a familiar pair of boots clomping against the hardwood floor and a hand softly touching the bare skin on her shoulder. The ring on his thumb felt cool against her skin. </p><p>Kiara dropped the broom and the sound echoed off the walls as it fell to the floor. </p><p>“Kiara? Are you okay?” her father called from the kitchen. </p><p>Swallowing, she called back that she was fine before she straightened her back and turned to face the visitor. </p><p>JJ was standing right behind her. She forgot how tall he was as he towered over her in his faded black cut off shirt, baggy shorts, and worn out boots. She could just make out the top of Pope’s head over his shoulder. </p><p>None of them spoke. None of them seemed to know what to say. They just watched each other.</p><p>JJ licked his lips before smiling hesitantly at her. It was so rare to see him unsure of himself. She watched his eyes sweep over the bandage on her face. Both pain and anger flashed through his eyes in a matter of seconds. Ugly green bruises peppered his skin, and she was close enough that she could see the faint freckles that covered his nose and the way the light shined on his tear-filled eyes.<br/>
Kiara held his gaze for a few moments. He shuffled nervously and raked a hand, not the one still resting on her shoulder, through his shaggy blonde hair. He opened his mouth to speak, but he never got the chance. </p><p>She threw her arms around his neck, pushed up to her toes, and pulled him close. She felt his arms pause before wrapping around her waist, squeezing her tightly against his body. He was so tall, yet he managed to curl his head down to bury his face in her hair. </p><p>Over his shoulder, she made eye contact with Pope, who had been standing by the front door still. His hands were in his pockets as he gnawed on his lower lip. It was a nervous tendency that she easily recognized. He stayed watching JJ and her embrace until she untangled one arm from JJ’s neck and beckoned him closer. </p><p>With a relieved sigh, Pope practically ran to them and wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders. His head rested on Kiara’s and his hands buried themselves in JJ’s shirt. All three of their bodies shook with sobs as they felt all the emotion the three of them had held back the past year break free as violent as the ocean waves they once surfed together way back when. </p><p>The three of them were so engulfed by each other that none of them noticed Kiara’s dad watching them from the kitchen window. A small smile on his face as he shook his head. He had been worried about his daughter the past year, and now, with these troublemaker boys back, he thought maybe he could worry a little less. </p><p>In the tangle of boy limbs and the sharp smell of sweat and mint infiltrating her nostrils, Kiara felt at home at last. For the first time in a year, she let herself feel. </p><p>The pain and despair broke free as tears ran down her face and gasps fell out of her mouth. The anger she felt broke free as she clung to JJ tighter. Then, the hope seeped in and she let herself feel it just this once. She felt the hope as JJ mumbled her name into her hair. She felt hope as Pope pressed his cheek into the crown of her head. </p><p>She felt the smallest flare of hope that maybe, one day, John B. would be back and be a part of their group hugs once again. Hell, she would even hug Sarah if she came back. The other girl had earned that much.</p><p>For the first time in almost a year, Kiara felt happiness warm her body right down to the bones. Her boys were here. Her family. They weren’t okay. None of them were. Not by a long shot. But now, they had a chance to heal. </p><p>Together.</p>
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